"They didn't fight, huh? Looks like the butterfly effect is getting bigger and bigger," Izayoi mused to himself.
Not only did he see Jiraiya and Tendo Pain's meeting, but Izayoi's Wood Clone also witnessed Pain's Six Paths wiping out that Kumo Anbu squad.
After obtaining Wood Release, Izayoi created just ten Wood Clones and used them to monitor the entire shinobi world.
A Wood Clone is second only to a White Zetsu clone in capabilities. It can likewise send intel back to the user in real time, and it's way more durable than a regular Shadow Clone.
Even if one were about to run out of chakra, it could find an unlucky victim to drain chakra from—self-sustaining.
If only the Tenseigan's telescopic and X-ray vision were able to do eavesdropping as well. In its overhead "god's-eye view" mode or the first-person perspective, it can zoom in on a certain area, but you can't overhear conversations that way.
With these ten Wood Clones, though, Izayoi's results aren't far behind what the White Zetsu army can do.
He can't eavesdrop, but from prolonged monitoring, Izayoi has already picked up signs that a storm is brewing.
Because of Izayoi's own moves, the Akatsuki's main base was exposed in advance.
All the major powers, wanting to confirm whether "Sage Eyes" (Rinnegan) truly exist, have been dispatching Anbu squads into Amegakure to gather intel.
After those squads vanished mysteriously, the larger nations put pressure on neighboring countries, forcing smaller villages to send their own ninja teams over.
But to all these intruders, Tendo Pain shows no mercy. He annihilates everyone.
He's not relocating the base at all, as if he's fully prepared to take on a joint assault from the major hidden villages at any moment.
Having lost one scouting team after another, the major villages are at a standstill, biding their time. They're waiting to see if Amegakure issues a warning—and whether or not Hanzō the "Demi-God" is still in charge.
Based on Hanzō's performance and personality back in the Second Great Ninja War, he would normally have delivered a pointed warning in his own style, reminding the big villages that the "Demi-God" is still alive and kicking.
If Hanzō actually shows himself, then that proves the intel was fake—meaning Konoha just spread misinformation to distract everyone so they wouldn't exploit Konoha's weakness.
If Hanzō doesn't appear, it means Konoha's report is likely true.
At that point, all the big powers would proceed with a second wave of tests. Once it's confirmed that the Sage Eyes truly exist, war against Amegakure would be highly likely.
The legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths are as tempting as the God of Shinobi's Kekkei Genkai, Wood Release.
Especially now that Konoha once again, after decades, has a Wood Release ninja (Izayoi). No one can tell if Izayoi might someday become an existence on par with the First Hokage.
If he does become the "God of Shinobi" of the new era, Konoha could regain its status as the strongest, and even hold power great enough to upset the balance of the world.
Right now, the most sensible move for the other villages would be to unite against Konoha—taking out Izayoi before he can rise to the level of the First Hokage.
But obviously, relations between the great villages aren't good enough for any united front.
So their only option to counter Izayoi is to cultivate a "Demon of the Shinobi World" within their own ranks—someone who could stand up to the future "God of Shinobi."
The Rinnegan, the fabled top of the Three Great Dōjutsu, is the best bet.
Also, none of the factions know exactly what powers the Rinnegan holds. With a gambler's mindset, someone is bound to make a move. Because Amegakure isn't Konoha and doesn't have that many ninjas.
Yet…
"If anyone jumps the gun, reaching out for those eyes too soon, they'll be in for a harsh lesson. And with how the ninja world looks right now, they'll just have to swallow that loss—unless they're some brainless…hardliner."
Thinking along those lines, Izayoi glanced in a certain direction and murmured with a faint smile, "A bit more chaos suits me just fine… After a while, I'll toss in another spark to fan the flames."
…
Time flew by, and November was gone in the blink of an eye.
With Izayoi's group of four using Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu to assist, the interior finishing of his new home was completed even faster than the house itself had "grown."
From mid-August, when construction started, to early December, which makes a bit over three months, Izayoi's new residence was finally complete.
Its location is in the southeastern quadrant of Konoha's central district; a few streets to the right lie the village's hot springs. The Hyūga clan, in the southwestern area, is also separated from him by just a few streets.
Because the hot springs are in a bustling part of town with high foot traffic, Izayoi bought up all the surrounding houses as well, so his new property is encircled by four streets in a perfect square.
To avoid interruptions, gawking, and random ninja running across his rooftop, Izayoi—like the Hyūga clan—built four tall walls around his property.
The front and back walls hold the main and rear gates; the left and right sides have elaborate carved bricks for aesthetics.
Within those walls stand two separate structures rather than just one.
Toward the front gate is a traditional-style building similar to the Hyūga head family's compound—an integrated courtyard design. It features artificial rock formations, various trees, a pond and stone bridge, and plenty of flowerbeds, forming an exquisite "natural setting."
No one would guess that just outside this house, the city bustles with crowds.
Although the outside appears in a classical, wooden style, it's heavily reinforced inside—Izayoi used Wood Release to strengthen it, making it extremely sturdy.
Plenty of seemingly old-fashioned fixtures are actually mechanized, with ninja tools, chakra cores, and intricate sealing arrays hidden within. At any time, a giant hemispherical barrier can be raised in the courtyard—able to withstand powerful attacks and block all sorts of sensory detection.
This traditional complex is quite large, with countless interior rooms—and three small hot spring pools, each of which can be either open-air or enclosed.
Behind it, near the back gate, stands a modern-style villa, again with garden landscaping and a pool both indoors and out.
Between the two structures is a huge circular space paved with white tile—also not as simple as it looks.
This circular courtyard can actually rise up to form a combat arena. Sculptures on all four sides contain chakra cores and more sealing arrays. Once activated, a barrier can envelop the area for people to fight at full strength.
Below ground, there's also an impressive space: Izayoi's underground base.
That's Izayoi's new home.
Once it was finished, Izayoi threw a series of banquets for the "Rookie Nine," plus Tsunade and Shizune, inviting them to feast and enjoy his private hot springs.
He set aside three separate spring pools: one exclusively for Izayoi, the Hyūga sisters, and Karin; the other two for male and female guests.
"Whoa… it's so huge!"
"I didn't realize how big the area was when it was being demolished, but now that it's built, this place is enormous!"
"This is crazy luxurious! Must've cost a fortune!"
"There's no way I could afford land this big even if I did missions my whole life, never mind building a place like this…"
"…"
Visiting Izayoi's place for the first time, the "Rookie Nine" were stunned.
Neither Naruto, as an orphan, nor Sakura, from a civilian ninja family, nor even Inuzuka Kiba or any of the clan kids were prepared for the shock of such grandeur.
They were too uneducated in that sense to come up with any fancy words to describe it.
Only Shikamaru Nara—sharp-minded as ever—gave Izayoi a meaningful look. It seemed that this early-maturing classmate, so much like himself, was harboring quite a few secrets.
The land was prime real estate, worth a fortune. To buy this much property alone could easily cost hundreds of millions of ryō. If Shikamaru recalled correctly, Izayoi bought the land before revealing his Wood Release. At that time, he was merely a "jutsu prodigy." Even if the Hyūga clan liked him, they wouldn't funnel such an astronomical sum into him, right?
Typically, an S-rank mission pays at least one million ryō, maybe up to five million. A top-secret "Super S-rank" mission might at most break ten million.
Even if Izayoi became an Elite Jōnin, he'd need dozens of S-rank or over ten Super S-rank missions just to pay that off—and that's just the cost of the land.
Building a mansion like this costs at least as much as the land, possibly double. So we're talking a minimum of 500 million ryō, maybe more. Shikamaru's Nara clan—Konoha's main supplier of medicinal herbs—wouldn't have the money to build anything like this.
Even the wealthy Hyūga clan couldn't possibly gather such a huge sum of money so quickly (in barely three months).
Clearly, Izayoi's excuses didn't add up. The money must be his own. But where did he get it? No doubt, Izayoi had secrets. Shikamaru wouldn't pry because it had nothing to do with him.
At that moment, Ino Yamanaka spotted something and asked, "Hey, Izayoi, aren't you going to hang a name plaque over the gate?"
"Not yet. I'll put one up later." Izayoi smiled.
"Oh! Right, sorry…" Ino stuck out her tongue and clasped her hands apologetically. She'd belatedly remembered that the Senju clan had formally dropped the name "Senju" long ago to blend fully into Konoha. Even the Fifth Hokage was just called "Tsunade," not "Senju Tsunade." Plaques typically display one's family name. Indeed, her question was a bit rude.
"It's no problem," Izayoi said lightly. "But once I do hang that plaque, don't be shocked at what it says."
He gave a cryptic grin, sparking everyone's curiosity. Did Izayoi have another clan heritage besides Senju? Shino Aburame glanced briefly at Karin, then nodded as if realizing something. He guessed Izayoi might put up an Uzumaki plaque.
The first-time visitors began touring the place. The boys wandered outside, marveling at the finely crafted garden as if they were country bumpkins who'd just arrived in the city.
Shino, in particular, stopped at an antique-looking tree trunk formed by Wood Release and couldn't tear himself away. He seemed to see it as a perfect breeding ground for bugs.
Out back, Naruto and Kiba noticed the large arena and wanted to try it out. Once the barrier was activated, the two of them had an intense match.
The result, obviously, was Kiba's one-sided defeat. Triumphant, Naruto next taunted Sasuke—who had been sneering at the "uncultured rabble"—and ended up getting pummeled.
Currently, Sasuke was too powerful for either Hinata or Karin to handle solo. Against both of them working together, if he stayed cautious and avoided getting sealed immediately, he had a very good chance of winning. Hinata and Karin would need something akin to "fate-defying transformations" to catch up.
While the boys were busy outside, the girls were exploring indoors.
"Whoa… that's a giant walk-in closet!"
"Hey, hey… is that a sewing machine? All these devices—does that mean Hinata, you can sew your own clothes?"
Ino and Sakura were wide-eyed upon entering a spacious room. Seeing the glass display closets filled with clothes, shelves of expensive fabrics, plus sewing machines and various tools for making clothes, they felt a wave of envy.
Hinata offered a gentle smile. "I don't know how to make clothes. All of these were made by Izayoi-kun."
"NANI?!"
The two girls gawked at her and then tackled her arms, practically crying as they gritted their teeth.
"Hinata, did you save the world in a past life or something?"
"It's not enough that you have a privileged background, plus a figure like that. You're gorgeous, on top of it, your boyfriend is super strong, plus he's handsome, kind, and can sew clothes…Ugh, I'm so jealous!"
"Me too!"
Seeing them flailing around in self-pity, Hinata's pink lips curved slightly upward.
But that was only the beginning of their anguish. That evening, when it came time to soak in the hot springs, they were completely overshadowed by how Hinata—despite her young age—was already "buoyant" in certain areas.
Neither had the heart to enjoy a nice soak; they just wanted to hurry up and go home to cry in bed. Worst of all, they might even keep having nightmares about it.
They decided that if they ever came back for the free hot springs, they'd avoid bathing with Hinata at all costs. Only Karin counted as a comrade in misery.
Of course, the only person who can make Hinata feel insecure is Tsunade, who arrived the next day with Shizune. It'd still be a few more years before Hinata reached Tsunade's…range.
Meanwhile, Karin and Shizune felt crushed into oblivion, as they ended up barely sticking their noses out of the water, blowing bubbles in embarrassment.
Over two days, Izayoi finished hosting the "Rookie Nine," then Tsunade and Shizune. Finally, he could take a breather.
Next morning, after a swim, Izayoi showered, tossed on a bathrobe, and slouched on the living room sofa with a relaxed sigh. "Ah, there's nothing like being in your own home."
"You've worked hard, Izayoi-kun."
Standing behind the sofa, Hinata gently massaged him with her Gentle Fist technique, smiling sweetly.
"You have too, Hinata—it's been a busy stretch," Izayoi said, glancing up to meet her gaze. But his vision was blocked partway, and he smirked mischievously. "Hinata, that outfit really suits you. Aren't the designs on it cute?"
A faint blush immediately spread across Hinata's cheeks. Shyly, she confessed, "It's a bit embarrassing. I definitely wouldn't wear it out in the summer. But it is really cute…"
Because the house had its own heating, Hinata was dressed lightly. She wore white shorts on the bottom and a fitted yellow T-shirt up top, perfectly accentuating her figure.
In Izayoi's previous world, that would have been a very standard summer outfit. Even if you had a stunning figure, wearing it outside would just draw attention to your long legs—nothing scandalous, as you're not revealing much else.
The catch is…the front of Hinata's yellow tee has a cartoon animal's face, smiling cutely. Hinata doesn't recognize the creature, but Izayoi—who made the shirt—knew exactly what it was: Pika-Pika-Chu!
And with Hinata's proportions pressing out the snug T-shirt, the adorable Pikachu face was stretched. That's why Hinata found it mortifying to wear in public.
~~~
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